Nothing Has Happened Yet

Xiao Qi, do you still remember...

The first time I came to maintain Liguang?

Actually, before that day, I was...

A bit uneasy.

A bit nervous.

Because the last time I saw you before that was at the orphanage.

Back then, you were still a little kid, and I was only three years older than you.

All these years at Chenxi, I always knew where you were and how you were doing.

But I didn't dare to meet you.

After Aunt Su and Uncle Fang passed away, your identity was kept strictly confidential from the outside world.

If I approached you rashly, I would only expose you to danger.

So I just watched from afar. Your school, your work, your life.

I watched you grow up, but I never showed up in front of you.

So that day was the first time I had contact with you in many years.

I stood outside your door and took several deep breaths.

I had no idea how you would react when you saw me.

At that moment, I just thought...

Would you still recognize me? Would you remember that quiet girl who always read books at the orphanage?

I had absolutely no confidence.

And what happened, Xiao Qi...

After you opened the door, you were so polite to me.

Courteous, proper, but also...

Very distant.

You said, "Good evening, Agent An, please come in."

Then you told me...

You were about to leave for work and wouldn't be staying home.

I instinctively said that inspecting and maintaining an AI companion required the owner's cooperation.

Actually, that wasn't true at all.

It wasn't that complicated.

Our mass-produced models even go to maintenance facilities on their own for inspections.

But I still said it.

Yet you still said no, work was the priority.

I stood there in your living room, watching you hurriedly change your shoes and grab your bag.

To be honest...

I felt a little disappointed.

But it wasn't unexpected.

I was close with Aunt Su, sure, but you and I had only met a few times at the orphanage.

You had your family, your school, your friends.

The orphanage was just an obscure corner of your childhood.

Even back then, you only chatted with me a few times. Most of the time, you were running wild in the yard with the other kids, acting like their little leader.

To you, I was probably just "that older sister at the orphanage who was always reading."

You might not even remember my name.

So your politeness and courtesy were already the best outcome.

At least you didn't see me as some suspicious person. At least you were willing to let me handle Liguang's maintenance.

Ah...

Why am I talking about all this?

Sorry, Xiao Qi. I'm not blaming you.

It's just that thinking about it, I couldn't help saying a little more.

Anyway, after you left that day, I started the routine check on Liguang.

And then...

I saw that data.

Liguang's crimson eyes—her emotional fluctuations were approaching the threshold.

My feelings at that moment were complicated.

On one hand, I was very worried, and also a little...

Afraid.

Back then, I truly believed it was only a matter of time before an awakened AI's emotions spiraled out of control.

Once Liguang awakened, she would definitely harm you.

But on the other hand, I was actually a little...

Happy.

Because this gave me a reason to contact you again.

I didn't want our first meeting in so many years to be just those few hurried minutes.

I was your maintenance specialist. It was my responsibility to inform you of unsafe test results.

With this reason, I could see you one more time.

So that day, I arranged to meet you at that café.

At the café, I was secretly watching your reactions the whole time.

Every word I said, every question I asked—I was actually...

Testing you.

Testing whether you still remembered me.

But from start to finish, you were perfectly respectful toward me, treating me like a complete stranger.

You listened to me carefully, responded politely, and occasionally drifted off.

At that moment, I thought...

This kid has grown up.

He has his own life now.

That's a good thing.

Maybe I shouldn't disturb him.

Protecting him from the shadows was already fulfilling my promise to Aunt Su.

But Xiao Qi...

That's not right.

Your life...

Going to work and coming home, having a beautiful AI companion waiting for you at home...

It only looks ordinary on the surface.

Your Liguang is not just any ordinary AI companion.

She's the very existence that the entire Chenxi company has its eyes on.

I know all this, but I can't tell you.

Once I say it, it will only bring you greater danger.

So I could only remind you over and over:

You must pay attention to Liguang's condition. If there's ever a problem, you must tell me immediately.

You...

Haha, at the time, you agreed so readily.

You agreed without even thinking, and you didn't ask a single question.

I could tell you were just brushing me off.

I have no idea how much of it you actually took to heart.

So that time, I also gave you a USB drive.

That monitoring tool, when plugged into Liguang's interface, could detect her emotional fluctuations in real time.

If the data turned red, there was a problem, and you needed to contact me right away.

Do you still have that USB drive?

...Never mind, I can tell from your expression.

If you lost it, you lost it. It wasn't really that important.

Hmm...

Where was I?

Ah, after I left your place...

During that period, I actually couldn't sleep well.

I turned my phone volume to maximum and put it by my pillow, afraid to miss your call.

I hoped you would call, because it would mean Liguang's test data had shown results.

Whether good or bad, at least I could know your situation.

But I also didn't want you to call.

Because if you called, it meant Liguang really had a problem.

It meant you were in danger.

And besides...

You seemed to love your AI companion so much.

If Liguang was taken away, how would you react?

You would definitely be heartbroken.

So I also hoped that the USB drive would never flash a light.

Let me just silently visit on schedule, do inspections, suppress Liguang's emotional fluctuations, write reports...

And then quietly leave.

That would be fine.

Those days, I couldn't focus well. I was in a daze.

Until I discovered...

Liguang's location had actually moved to an island.

An uninhabited island.

An island only with you and Liguang.

I immediately called you, but I called several times and your phone was off.

I was truly panicked at that moment.

My mind was filled with images of the way my parents died back then.

I couldn't let that happen again.

I couldn't!

If Liguang had truly awakened, if she did something to you on that island...

You were so far away, no one could save you!

I sent an application in the early morning to go to the island for inspection.

The company replied quickly and immediately arranged a flight for me at dawn.

And then, Xiao Qi, on the night before I set off...

I had a "dream."

That dream felt so real.

But looking back now...

It wasn't a dream at all, was it?

Those...

Those were things that really happened, weren't they?

In the dream, I smoothly boarded a helicopter and arrived at the island.

Come to think of it...

Miss Lin You, you were also on the island back then.

At the time, I didn't even recognize you.

I had seen you before at Chenxi Company, when you were still little. Aunt Su always told me you were the smartest.

But we never spoke.

So that time on the island was the first...

You and me, our first real conversation?

In a dream?

Ha, that’s strange.

Anyway, in the dream, I inspected Liguang. The data…

It was shocking.

The data had exceeded the threshold for too long.

She had already awakened.

Last time, I just didn’t catch it.

And then I understood immediately.

Xiao Qi, it was you covering for her.

You knew she had awakened all along.

You took her to that island to avoid the company’s tracking.

I almost couldn’t hold back then.

I nearly confronted you right there, asked how you could do something like this!

Do you know how serious a crime it is to harbor an awakened AI?

Do you realize that if the company found out… you could be silenced for good?

But I couldn’t.

Liguang was too strong—her Crimson Eye’s data was way too unstable.

I couldn’t confront her in front of you.

So I said nothing, pretended everything was fine, finished the inspection procedure, and then…

I grabbed the data and rushed away.

Back then, I thought I had to do something. I couldn’t just watch you walk straight into the fire.

And then I did something…

Something I regret now.

I got impulsive and directly requested an armed siege of the island from Chenxi.

Xiao Qi, Liguang was just too important.

The moment her data was uploaded, the higher-ups approved it immediately.

The armed recovery team assembled within hours, loaded with heavy firepower, and boarded the transport helicopters.

The goal was to forcibly recover Liguang.

But after landing on the island, all we found was…

Miss Lin You, kneeling on the beach, staring into space.

She said you two had “eloped.”

Yeah.

Eloped.

In the days that followed, we searched the island for you.

Xiao Qi, you and Liguang hid really well.

We looked for you for days.

And the situation got more and more complicated.

At first, the higher-ups said they wanted you alive—because if Liguang lost her master, things would get messy.

And you were a core user—dying on the island would be a PR disaster.

But later, they started losing patience.

They said the island was only so big—no matter how powerful Liguang was, she couldn’t escape.

They said we should just bomb the place systematically—Liguang would reveal herself to protect you.

I refused.

I said we couldn’t harm you.

You were Fang Chu and Su Yue’s son. You were just being deceived by Liguang.

We had to bring you back safely!

But the higher-ups stopped caring.

Losing control of Liguang for days had made them truly lose patience.

On the third day, I think, they issued the order to open fire.

But I held it off again.

Xiao Qi, you probably remember this, right?

I kept shouting from the helicopter.

Over and over.

I hoped you would come out on your own.

If you just showed up yourself, even for the sake of face and public opinion, Chenxi wouldn’t dare lay a hand on you.

But you and Liguang hid too well.

That evening, we finally detected traces of Liguang.

The whole island was in chaos, but in the end…

What we found was a forcibly removed Crimson Eye.

A damaged external core.

Tossed into a crevice among the rocks by the shore.

And you and Liguang weren’t there.

Xiao Qi, actually…

We quickly noticed traces of a raft leaving the island on the other side.

An experienced team member noticed something off and said that might be the direction you fled.

But…

I suppressed that clue.

I told them there was a storm in that sea area that night—no one could have escaped from there.

By then, I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore.

But Xiao Qi, at that point, you had become a full-fledged fugitive.

In Chenxi’s system, you were no longer the core user who needed protection.

You were someone who illegally possessed a super core and resisted the company’s armed recovery—“a dangerous element.”

If you were caught, the outcome… would only be one.

…I couldn’t let Xiao Qi get caught.

And besides, Liguang had gouged out her own Crimson Eye for you.

That was the only thing on her that the company could track.

Without the Crimson Eye, maybe Liguang…

Could truly live a peaceful life with you?

If you and she could drift to a place no one knew, if she could really control her emotional fluctuations…

Maybe they could truly live peacefully and safely.

That path—you paved it yourselves.

Maybe I shouldn’t stand in the way.

At the time, the technicians said you might have gone out to sea and wanted to adjust satellites to trace the ocean current direction.

I said there was no rush.

I said you were surely still on the island—it was getting dark, so we should rest for the night and search again tomorrow.

They were a bit dissatisfied, but no one dared to openly oppose me.

After all, I was the senior maintenance specialist directly liaising with the board of directors, responsible for this operation.

I bought you one night.

I don’t know if it was enough.

But that was all I could do.

At the end of the dream, I resigned at a press conference.

Then I was taken into custody, awaiting trial.

They told me I was facing at least ten years behind bars.

The lights in the detention center were on twenty-four hours a day.

I sat on that hard cot, thinking it all over, reviewing…

Regretting.

The more I thought about it, the more I regretted it.

How could I have ever believed that Liguang was truly safe?

What if, one night, she suddenly broke down…

Xiao Qi wouldn’t even have a chance to call for help!

She would “keep you by her side forever” while you were asleep!

Awakened AI partners—they’ve done too many things like that!

And even without the Crimson Eye, even if she never hurt you…

How could Chenxi ever give up on that core?

They would follow the ocean currents, scan global satellite images, and compare every harbor and fishing boat.

Xiao Qi and Liguang…

They would be found eventually.

And when that happened, Xiao Qi wouldn’t be a “client” anymore—he’d be a “fugitive.”

For fugitives, the company doesn’t need to worry about public opinion.

They just send an armed recovery team to a place where no one sees them, take the core away, and silence anyone in the know…

Permanently.

The more I thought about it, the more I regretted it, the more painful it became.

I found a lawyer and applied for bail.

I said I had crucial information that could help—I would cooperate with the company to recover the core, just let me out!

The lawyer said no.

The higher-ups had given strict orders—no one was allowed to bail me out.

He even hinted to me…

That one day in the future, I would die in that prison.

Because I knew too much.

They were never going to let me walk out of that detention center alive.

Once the dust settled, once the media stopped caring about this “failed armed siege of the island”…

I would quietly “die by suicide from depression.”

I was devastated.

But thankfully, in the midst of that despair…

The nightmare suddenly ended.

I…

went back to that morning before flying to the island.

My phone alarm had just gone off. My suitcase was still open on the floor, unpacked.

I hadn’t gone to that island yet.

Xiao Qi hadn’t escaped yet.

Liguang hadn’t dug out her Crimson Eye yet.

Nothing had happened yet.

Nothing…

had happened yet.